My name is Jim Spears. I started kayak diving on Maui in 1994. It is an
excellent and inexpensive way to reach dive sites that are too distant to safely
qualify as shore dives.

Kayak diving also affords you the ability to
find new dive sites. By drift diving at random depths and locations I have discovered
patch reefs and marine life that very few divers have likely come across, such as the
Harlequin Shrimp in the
photo below.

Having a kayak with you gives you a dive
platform as well as a safety net. It also offers the luxury of not saving half
of your air supply for a return trip to shore. There is the added benefit here
on Maui of whale watching while paddling during whale season as seen in the
photo below.

As you browse through this site it may seem
that this sport is difficult and complicated. It is not. Scuba diving is a gear
intensive sport anyway. The addition of a kayak and a few more pieces of gear is
far outweighed by the benefits.

I hope you find my techniques
useful. Please keep in mind that they are based on diving in water temperatures
of between 74 and 80 degrees, with good to excellent visibility, and using the
type of kayak shown. I suggest you develop your kayak diving skills and
techniques in shallow water and at familiar dive sites.

As with any method of scuba diving, plan and
discuss your dive with your dive buddy(s) ahead of time, and include the various
additional aspects of diving from a kayak. My basic rule of kayak diving is;
"know where your kayak is at all times." It is a lightweight craft and
is easy to tow along. Remember, it is your life raft in the open ocean.